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  3. Causation in International Relations
  • Cited by 174
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    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      22 September 2009
      03 April 2008
      ISBN:
      9780511491481
      9780521882972
      9780521709507
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511491481
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.71kg, 370 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.59kg, 370 Pages
      • Subjects:
      Social Theory, Politics and International Relations, International Relations and International Organisations, Sociology
      Series:
      Cambridge Studies in International Relations (108)
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    Subjects:
    Social Theory, Politics and International Relations, International Relations and International Organisations, Sociology
    Series:
    Cambridge Studies in International Relations (108)
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    Book description

    World political processes, such as wars and globalisation, are engendered by complex sets of causes and conditions. Although the idea of causation is fundamental to the field of International Relations, what the concept of cause means or entails has remained an unresolved and contested matter. In recent decades ferocious debates have surrounded the idea of causal analysis, some scholars even questioning the legitimacy of applying the notion of cause in the study of International Relations. This book suggests that underlying the debates on causation in the field of International Relations is a set of problematic assumptions (deterministic, mechanistic and empiricist) and that we should reclaim causal analysis from the dominant discourse of causation. Milja Kurki argues that reinterpreting the meaning, aims and methods of social scientific causal analysis opens up multi-causal and methodologically pluralist avenues for future International Relations scholarship.

    Reviews

    ‘Cause is the central concept of any science, including human sciences. Yet, most IR scholars seem to assume that this is not the case, which explains in part the appalling state of the discipline. To paraphrase Kant, it is time to awaken IR scholars from their 'dogmatic slumber' by shifting the field of background discourse, as Kurki attempts to do here. Her brilliant book will no doubt make a huge contribution to the revival of cumulative research in world politics, peace and conflict studies and related fields.’

    Heikki Patomäki - University of Helsinki

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